Speaker 1What is up? What is happening? Welcome to the James Kennedy Podcast. I just want to say thanks to all of you lovely new subscribers. Thanks so much to everyone that's joined the podcast lately. I really appreciate you. And of course, I appreciate you guys who've been here since day one as well. I just appreciate all of you for listening. We're going to lighten things up a little bit on this episode because, you know, we're living in pretty heavy times and we talk about a lot of heavy subjects on this podcast, as we should do. But, you know, sometimes you need a break and there's so much good shit happening around the world as well. And so many super talented people that I want to chat to. So we're going to cool things down a little bit this week and get back to talking about the thing that I love and the thing that you love, music. And speaking of which, before we get into the conversation today, James Kennedy and the Underdogs have got an amazing announcement coming this very Monday at 9am. This is a biggie. It's one you've been waiting for, and it's a good one. But, you know, if you follow me on social media, you're not going to see anything I post because I'm effectively shadowbound on every platform now. So if you don't already know, we've got a cool group called The Secret Society, where it's just a mailing list. You're going to whack in your name, your email address, and your city, and then we let you know when we've got cool stuff happening near your town. So if you want to know what the awesome new announcement is going to be on Monday morning, the best thing to do is whack your email address into the mailing list and we'll let you know before anybody else. And then that way, you know, you haven't got to worry about whether Facebook or Instagram is going to let you know what's going on in the world. You know, which it mostly doesn't, unless, you know, people like me are paying the money. So you can join The Secret Society mailing list at jameskennedystuff.com. Simple as, man. And I'm always plugging in my Insta stories as well on Instagram at jameskennedyuk. Give me a follow there for what it's worth. And then we can keep you gorgeous people updated with all the cool stuff we got happening over the next few months because, man, we can't wait to share the news with you all. So get on it. All right, let's get down to business because I love this band so, so much. And it is an honor to have them on the phone today, calling in live from Paris in the middle of their huge international tour, which sees the band do their magical and wonderful thing all across Europe, the U.S. and Canada. I'm joined by Ryan Goldemond, singer, songwriter and guitarist of the incredible Mother Mother. Ryan, thanks so much for joining us, bro. How are you doing? I'm great. Thank you so much for having me. No, not at all, man. Anytime. I mean, I've got so much stuff I want to get into with you today. But the most important thing, the thing we've got to get off the bat straight away is how is the tour going? How are the shows going, man? This is a big one.
Speaker 2It's the first tour of this album cycle, so it always takes a minute to get to your sea legs. But we're in the groove. Now, and wherever we've fallen short on any of these gigs, the audience has more than made up for it. They're just incredible. The crowds that are coming out, like so much life in these venues, so much passion and emotion. It's wonderful.
Speaker 1Well, I can't imagine you guys falling short because you guys are seasoned professionals at this now and your live show is badass. But I mean, you know, I know exactly what you're talking about, man. It takes a few shows to get the new tracks bedded in. And the new tracks you're talking about are songs off the brand new album Grief Chapter which is out now. I'm sure many of you fans are already loving it as much as I do. So I'd love to get a lowdown on the record, man. You know, what are the songs about? You know, how did it come together? What were the inspirations? What were the obstacles? What was the recording process? Give us a lowdown on Grief Chapter.
Speaker 2A lot of the writing for the album happened over the last couple of years while we were touring, which is kind of nice. Like, it was a very exciting time seeing so much of the world that we'd never seen, kind of acquainting with this new sport of touring. And so a lot of inspiration, a lot of high energy and, you know, just taking that into the writing process in green rooms and hotel rooms, trying to fit it in, right? Because there wasn't a lot of time at home, which I found I always like writing like that. It's just a little bit more charged with curiosity because you're out of your element. And so I just found that part of the process really gratifying just the writing of the song. Sometimes you have to put your teeth and you really have to pry these songs out of existence. And they could be very stubborn and resistant. But this time it was very fluid. And as a songwriter, just like so grateful for that when the channel opens. And then it was time to bring it to the studio. And we were very fortunate to camp out at the Warehouse Studios in Vancouver in Gastown, which is Brian Adams' revered studio. It's a beautiful brick, industrial building with lots of natural light spilling through and just a great live room, all the vintage mics and preamps and there's a tape machine. And we were there for a hundred days. So we really got to kind of like, we kept saying like, let's make our pet sounds just symbolizing, like, let's just not leave any stone unturned and be obsessive, be indulgent and make the record that we want to make. And in terms of themes, death, I think, is at the center of this album and mortality and grief, obviously. But they're used more as a reference point or signpost to live and to kind of wake up to the miracle of the day and carpe diem, that kind of thing. So it might be ostensibly morose, this album, thematically, but it's not in fact. I think underneath the surface, it's quite hopefully empowering.
Speaker 1100%. It is an incredible album. I mean, I got so many questions to ask. As a musician and album maker myself, I've done about seven albums now, produced myself and everything. So I've got questions coming at you from that angle as well that I'm super interested in because your stuff is dense, man. But before we get into that, the techie stuff, where did the name come from? What's behind the name?
Speaker 2Grief Chapter? Yeah. So there's a song called Grief Chapter and it closes the album. And, you know, I wrote that song after texting with a friend who was going through the loss of his father and some other friends in his life. So it was like all these people in his life were dying. And I said to him in his text thread, sounds like you're in a grief chapter. And he being a songwriter said, yeah, I am. But more importantly, that's a great title for an unborn song and should be written. And so... I put the phone down and started writing the song. I just kind of poured out of the guitar. A lot of the lyrics I just like took from our text conversation. In verse two, I'm talking about feeding your mother and she looks like an angel. And those are his words. And he said, everything looks different now. Kind of, you know, that once you cross that line after losing someone, the world changes color. And so it was cool. I like it when songs are written like that. As a byproduct, of life, as opposed to free meditation in songwriting. I much prefer that when the songs come out of the lived experience. And so yeah, it's just a great, beautiful, intimate, personal song. Touches on life and death. Perfect way to close the album and just encapsulates the themes more broadly very well, I think.
Speaker 1Yeah, it's a great track, that one in particular, actually, man. And it's interesting with songs, and as soon as you put them out there, regardless of what the intention was behind the writing of it or how it came together, as soon as you put it out there, it kind of takes on a life of its own in the hearts and ears of everyone else that listens to it. Like it can mean different things to different people at different times in their life, can't it? And I definitely got the strong existential themes coming through a lot of the lyrics on this record. And that resonates strongly with me because I'm well into all that stuff myself. But in terms of the music as well, I mean, you guys are so eclectic. I mean, you're a fascinating band because you never know what's going to come next with you guys, even within the same song, you know what I mean? And as I was listening to the record, I was just thinking, who do these guys listen to? Who are their influences? Because there's so much stuff in there. But it's all kind of put together in a way that is distinctly you guys. You sound like nobody else, you know what I mean? So this is probably like a too basic a question, but I mean, yeah, who were the influences on this record? And who are you guys listening to?
Speaker 2Well, I think the band, the sound and my songwriting sensibilities could probably be boiled down to like three pillars, that being the Beatles, and then the traditional musics of jazz and classical, and then the Pixies, right? I think those three energies kind of come together. And I think define a lot of what we go for. We like the the harmonic and the melodic complexities. And that's kind of born from the jazz modality. And we like the bent, strange, eccentric, androgynous vocal stylings of the Pixies. And then the Beatles are just masters at unconventional song arrangements and just making the most out of a three minute song, making it feel like such an epic journey when it's in fact, just so brief. So yeah, those are those are, I think, incredible.
Speaker 1Yeah, well, I can definitely hear all of that in your music, and a gazillion other things as well. But you mentioned that the album was written on the road as well. You know, I'd be interested to know what influence that had, as an indirect influence, you know, being at a different place all the time, different hotel room, you know, different time zone, different headspace. What effect did that have, if any, on the making of this record?
Speaker 2Yeah, I think whatever you're going through at the time of writing songs, influences how you write songs. It's just like the The order. of the universe i think um and i i kind of have a thought about life having been so good for us over the past few years um espousing ruminations of impermanence and finality and the fragility of life like when when shit gets good i think it's easy to start thinking existentially because it reminds you that good things eventually end um and so i i could you know look back and see how those themes organically came out of a high moment in life yeah that's interesting way of
Speaker 1looking at it man and like this is your ninth album now as well and in quite a short period of time like you guys have been very creatively fertile to put out nine records of the nature of music that you do that is so creatively charged and so eclectic and so dense you know that's a lot of creative output in a short space of time so how do you guys manage to stay so creatively charged and so creatively productive you know whilst touring and doing all the other things that you know one must do these days you know do you guys ever go writer's block is it a struggle or have you got a process i mean how do you guys manage to stay so creatively productive
Speaker 2um i've kind of disavowed writer's block um i don't know i don't really believe in it i think it's more a fear of being bad and so the pressure of that um paralyzes someone so it's it's it's deeper than that it's dismantling the fear of not meeting an external expectation and getting back to the root of why you're creative in the first place which is a really pure or innocent joyous occasion it shouldn't be for anything but the sheer joy of that alchemy um and when you are connected to that in an authentic way i think that's when the good songs just come out anyway so it's sort of like it's it's uh it's a bit of a jedi mind trick you have to not care about writing good songs in order to write good songs um so that's how i deal with writer's block and i think in terms of the prolificness um if you stop writing songs uh they travel somewhere else and inhabit themselves in a different writer so it's it's really wise just to always stay greased um and acquainted with your muse whatever that may be um and also it's just funner life is better when i'm writing songs by like a huge margin it's like it's almost like life is pale when i'm not and when i am it's technicolor um so it's almost just like a self-preservation mechanism for like good mental health
Speaker 1oh yeah well i totally hear that one man i mean i was actually i tried to get out of the game for a bit you know in my last band we were hitting it pretty hard we did like five albums in five years plus a bunch of touring and stuff like that and it was really hard the toll it took on us at that level you know with no backing doing everything independently and stuff like that the grind of it all and the you know the constant disappointment and rejection and battles at every step you know it took its toll and i got to the point where i was just burned out and depressed and totally disillusioned and i was like right that's it i need to step back from this because this is just taking everything else from my life that's good and i know i need to reassess what i'm doing this for and i actually was intending on stepping right out of music and reassessing my life and possibly never coming back to it and it was at that exact point that this album just flooded out of me you know the most personal and cathartic therapeutic album i've ever done almost like a journal and it really helped me to get out of it and i think that's what i'm trying to do and i think that's what i'm trying to do is help me through that process and it was very ironic that the thing that i was trying to avoid or get away from was the thing that actually saved me and helped me make sense of that whole kind of existential crisis point of my life so it's kind of like a blessing and a curse isn't it it's like the thing that brings us the most joy can also bring us the most pain but it's ultimately the thing that saves us as well at our lowest points you know yeah and that's when it's
Speaker 2the best when it's raw and real and private and something like a diary yeah i totally agree
Speaker 1well what i love about you guys as well is the fact that like these days with the industry being what it is and all of us have to kind of be very market savvy now don't we with the way that we present ourselves online you know because we're all our kind of own branding agencies now as we exist pretty much through the medium of social media and i think the pressure now to kind of know who you are to know who you speak to and to just stay within that lane and within that niche is very much more prevalent now than perhaps it used to be but even back in the days when the industry was the only way to do it it was very much more prevalent now than perhaps it used to be you know people would get artists would get told really early on in their career like you know you need to know who you are are you heavy metal are you hip-hop you know what are you are you pop are you pop punk you can't you can't keep bouncing all over the map you got to pick a lane and stick at it because it's confusing people we need to know who we're marketing you to we need to know who you're speaking for stop being so damn experimental stop being so adventurous and changing genre from one album or one song to the next if you want to succeed in the marketplace you got to play the game but you guys are a gorgeous glorious rebuttal to that because you are the opposite of all of that like you guys will flip genres many times within the same song every album or every song with you guys is a beautiful box of surprises you never know what you're gonna get and yet you've got a wonderfully loyal and global fan base you've had great commercial success you know so you kind of prove that that actually is bullshit you know that whole idea that you can't be too eclectic if you look at some of the biggest artists that have changed the game over the years you know david bowie prince and many many others you know these are the guys that flipped whatever genres they wanted to they did their own thing so what are your thoughts on that do you think that that attitude is bullshit are you guys just doing your thing and it just worked out i mean i don't know
Speaker 2if it's bullshit i mean if what feels good to you is sticking in one lane then i think you should i just think you shouldn't um be formulaic because you think that's going to make you successful and and conversely i don't think you should be unconventional because that makes you successful yeah i think you should just try to figure out what turns you on and what um stirs your own soul and do your best to act as an ambassador of that whether that's online or um in an interview or wherever you are representing this you know this this magic that you possess and are trying to share with the world um i really don't know how to like do social media well i think we like so many artists are confounded by how fast it's moving and how demanding it is um but again it's just like you just have to like let go and do your best and and try to present your art form um as honestly and um i think consistently as possible like consistency is is the trick in this game it's like keep writing keep posting keep getting out there and just don't stop and eventually you'll have really positive punctuations along that journey like for us it took 15 years before we had our break um and you know and there was so many opportunities to quit up until that point so many uh iffy moments um but we just kept going and just kept putting records out every two years like clockwork kept posting whether or not it was clumsy or graceful we just kind of kept doing it and because of that we were able to meet our uh our miracle in 2020 via tiktok and like you know looking ahead over the next 40 years i'm just going to keep doing it if i if i get 40 years and i just trust that things like that will happen and it could be 10 years apart you know it could be two years apart um it doesn't really matter when i just know that it will happen if you just keep going
Speaker 1yeah i love it beautifully put man and it's interesting that you say that you don't really know how to do social media because you guys are fucking crushing it on social media and you've also been a recipient of that coveted holy grail that all artists and everybody online in the world wants to get which is to go viral on tiktok so i really want to get into that if you don't mind i want to find out what it's like when that happens is it a game changer or is it an overhyped thing it doesn't make a lot of difference or is it awesome for a day or two and then it's gone again and it's back to life as normal what's it like
Speaker 2when that happens to an artist man what goes down that was a total game changer yeah absolutely transformative um and we thank our lucky stars it is so inexplicable so organic like we weren't even on tiktok we didn't we barely knew what it was i remember being in the studio and getting word that like something was happening on this strange app and i was gonna just download the app and make an account and snoop around and everyone in the studio was like don't do it it's like you know like chinese spyware and uh i was like really well i think i have to because there's some like activity so i like made an account made a really deep tiktok and i went looking around and you know there's like thousands of teenagers all around the world like vibing out to mother mother music in their bedrooms uh hanging with their friends just like in cosplay um This whole different young Gen Z community, gender fluid, goth, cosplay, alt culture. It was just like looking into like a parallel universe. And at first, we didn't really know what that would equate to. Like, is this kind of like a flash or a phase? Does this actually mean real fans who want to buy real tickets and have a real experience with the band and the venue? And so it was all just kind of unknown and very mysterious and a big experiment. So we started to engage and try to connect. And that connection felt authentic. And it seemed as though something special was forming between these people and the band and the music that wasn't just like, you know, a viral cat video that would be forgotten imminently. But the true test was like getting out on the road. And so when we finally did, it was just like wherever we went, whether it was like Helsinki or America or South America. Yeah, like one to three thousand folks would show up in this young demographic, this very individual, unconventional, creative, beautiful culture. And yeah. And yeah, it just blew us away. And it's been like that ever since. Like tonight in Paris, we'll play the what is this venue called? The Olympia. And that's about three thousand people. And it's just about sold out. I think we sold twenty five hundred tickets. So wow. And the last time we played Paris was probably two hundred fifty people pre-pandemic.
Speaker 1Man, that is nuts. So this is no joke. Then this is the big deal that people make out that it is.
Speaker 2It's changed our lives and reinvigorated our career. And yeah, it gave us a new lease on life musically, as a band, interpersonally, creatively, everything. And it's like the whatever the success or even the financial gain or just like being out there in the world as a working band. That's like not the thing that is exciting. It's just how. Beautiful. I think the connection with this audience is and how the music feels like a real force of good. Like there's a real awesome like. Like positive advocacy for mental health and accepting yourself and individuality as an aura to these songs and this fan base, which has just made us better people and made us more sensitive and smart and compassionate. And. And and heart space driven. Yeah, we're more heart led as a byproduct of all this. So it's funny. The success has actually reduced our thirst for success and centered us more in human heart based triumph, which is just the connection. And I guess love, you know, for lack of a better word.
Speaker 1Man, what a great. Story and it couldn't have happened to a better band as well. I mean, that's kind of like the the icing on the cake, isn't it? I mean, if it happens to some kind of major label bubblegum manufacturer pop band, then it doesn't have the same underdog sense to it, you know. But you guys do such great music and you do it for the right reasons. And, you know, the fact that it's happened to you guys is just a beautiful bit of universal justice. You know, I mean, and it actually happened to a friend of mine as well. A friend of mine who was on the the metal scene. They've been going for about 25 years over here. A band called Skin Dread. Awesome fucking band, man. And completely unbeknownst to themselves, they went viral on TikTok. They had a dance that someone had put together and it just fucking took off on TikTok. They didn't even know. Same as yourself. I didn't even know if they were on TikTok. But, you know, fast forward a few months later, they're number two in the album charts. And then they headlined fucking Wembley Arena for the first time. So it really does make a difference, man. It's TikTok stuff people talk about. Ain't no joke, you know.
Speaker 2Yeah, it's special, too, when it's so organic. Like this, this industry is just so full of strategize. Strategizing success. And when it, yeah, when it comes from a mystical, inexplicable force, I think it makes it much sweeter.
Speaker 1Yeah, 100%. And the fact that it's actually turned into tangible, you know, boots on the ground, like people turning up to the shows and stuff, rather than it just being a strictly online thing, really does show the very real power of it. And I think it's testament to just how much the music industry has changed, hasn't it? I mean, what a bizarre state of affairs that is. Something like that can happen without any budget, you know, no marketing team behind it. It wasn't planned. It wasn't strategized. It just happened, as you said, organically and completely unbeknown to yourselves. What a bizarre world we're now living. You know what I mean? And I'd love to get your thoughts on the music industry, because it has changed so much in the time that we've both been doing our thing. You know, gone are the days now of, you know, you happen to come out through a label if you're an artist. You know, you can now make your own record and put it out yourselves and promote yourselves online. What are your thoughts on that? You know, do you think... You've lost something through not having the industry that we used to have. Do you think it's harder for artists now, easier, or just a different set of problems? What are your thoughts?
Speaker 2It's probably just the way it's supposed to be. I kind of have, like, that evolutionary kind of way of thinking. But, yeah, we've seen lots of shifts. You know, it was CDs when we were coming up. So, CDs and, like, Napster. And so, we... We really were there for the segue into streaming platforms, which I think toppled the industry in a certain way. But I think in kind of a good way, because it just sort of, like, humbled the whole beast. And it made it more of a trade. It's like, I don't think anybody should be making squillions of dollars for doing anything, really, to be honest. I think the ceiling... The financial ceiling should lower. And just the fact that bands needed to, like, get out and play more live in order to earn their salt and earn their keep, I think, was a good thing. And just... It keeps you honest, you know? And it keeps you in check with what you're capable of. And now it's just crazy with the social media and the TikTok and the Bible. I think it's too bad that, like, A&R people are on their phones looking. I think it's too bad that, like, A&R people are on their phones looking for kids in bedrooms who have a moment online and are signing them instead of, like, going out to shows and having that transcendental experience in a venue. There's so many pros and there's so many cons. All I know is it's just going to keep changing for better and for worse. But that's just the nature of technology. That's the nature of art. Art is chaotic. It does evolve. And it's an uncomfortable process a lot of the time. I think that's sort of the beauty of it.
Speaker 1Yeah, well, I've been a big ambassador for the new model for a long time now. And it was kind of a central tenet to what I wrote about in my book, Noise Damage, was about how the pitfalls that I talk about as an artist coming up in the old model no longer have to exist now for an artist thriving in the new model, you know? Where you can make your own records and put it out yourself without having to be beholden to... With anybody at all, you know? Which is a wonderful and empowering and very important thing that we shouldn't take for granted. But the problem that we've got now, and I've mentioned this on the podcast many times before because it is the big problem, is in this new digital utopia, how the hell do you get heard above the noise of everybody else on Earth who's also now got the same platform and the same tools? What are your thoughts on that?
Speaker 2I think it's probably always been hard to get heard because in the 70s, it was hard to get heard because there wasn't enough noise. Because you had to have a deal to make a record. So just the people that, you know, had the luxury of making noise got heard and typically got signed. They might not have done well, but they typically got signed. And so now there's too much noise. So I think it's just always been hard. I think it's just near impossible to make it. And that doesn't mean you shouldn't try. But it's probably good. To have like, you know, a peripheral plan B. I never expected it to go this way. Like I did. I wasn't pessimistic, but I wasn't so cocky as to be certain as to not have a day job until I didn't have to have one. I was cooking eggs and cooking breakfast for people. And then luckily, I had an employer that would let me take time off and go on tour. And I just kept doing that until the scales tipped. And I didn't have to have that day job anymore. But yeah, I don't know. Like, would you recommend someone getting into the music industry and trying to become a star right now?
Speaker 1I would probably echo a lot of what you said. I would say definitely do it because if it's in your blood and you have to do it, you're going to do it anyway. I mean, I didn't make a penny out of anything for like 10 years. You know what I mean? But I still did it anyway, which is the right reason to do it. I mean, anyone. Everyone that gets into this because they think it's going to be a good career choice is doing it for the wrong reason. And they're probably going to be very naive and set themselves up for a lot of pain. but i think definitely be realistic and and consider that this is a very volatile difficult industry that's very unfair a lot of the time you know i know so many great talented songwriters who work their ass off who just can't catch a break so i think having a fallback is probably a sensible thing to do but i mean those of us that have got to do it i've got to do it you know
Speaker 2regardless yeah and i think it's good to like frame what it is it's not a means to be successful it is a means to have more joy in life this this relationship with creativity with writing with your muse whatever it is um you know keep it in the space of a hobby because we love our hobbies we cherish them they're sacred places and then when the hobby um mutates into a vocation then the magic starts to you 'dissipate' and so that is the tragedy it doesn't matter if you're successful or not when you lose that spark with with your muse um then it's over anyway so i think just always keeping your relationship uh with your writing with your art fresh and magical is the key and then whether or not you're successful it doesn't really matter because then at least you'll have that like that that will always be the key to your success
Speaker 1be amazing yeah music is supposed to be the beauty and the joy in a very otherwise difficult and challenging life isn't it you know what i mean the second it becomes something else is it's a sad day i think you know that's supposed to be there to save you it certainly always saved me at my lowest points like when i was in school and i was the outcast kid getting bullied you know i have my guitar to come back to i have my music to listen to i have my band to jam with on the weekend and like that stayed with me ever since man you know at my lowest points i you know i've journaled an album out of it you know just sitting back listening to a record or losing yourself in the meditation of a guitar practice or something or expressing whatever you got to express in the form of a song and then setting it free into the world i think that's a beautiful thing the second
Speaker 2that turns into something else it's a sad thing yeah i think like where the angst comes from and the frustration is because everything you just described is so special that when you achieve that the the yearning to share it is so strong that for me like when i you when i write a new song that i know came from the right place and is good and has healing powers is a force of good and i myself am obsessed with i just want to share it so bad like i just want as many people to hear it as possible and when they don't like when when a song that you know is great and you really believe in just kind of falls under the radar it's heartbreaking and so i think that is much in part why people get so um so torn up about making it or not because they believe in what they do and they they just want other people to experience it and the idea of them not is is uh feels like a
Speaker 1great tragedy oh 100 yeah man i've seen that tragedy so many times and it really is a tragedy when that happens you see so so much talent and great art just fall under the radar you know really is a travesty man um what are your thoughts then speaking about the music industry on ai because that is going to be whether we like it or not the next big seismic change do you think that's going to be the death blow that everyone's making out is going to be um what do you think
Speaker 2i think um i don't have a lot of well formulated thoughts um i don't think about it very much um if i'm being honest but i like i think about like asking ai to like edit all my drums and i like you know like lining up all the consonants between a stack of gang vocals and that kind of thing um yeah yeah yeah but like i don't get at all excited about ai writing my song like to me that's just i'm always gonna need that whether or not ai at large could write better songs than me i kind of don't care it's like i'll always have this sacred practice which you know like i said turns my world technicolor um so i would never hand that over to you to a robot but i would certainly use the robot to do some of that more laborious work
Speaker 1100 that would be great dude yeah to have a robot kind of if i could have terminator do my drums for me that would be oh my god so good get make sure all the bass is in time while i go and get a coffee that'd be amazing my worry i guess is that the industry is gonna much prefer to have a robot churning out a thousand songs it never gets tired or never gives you an attitude problem rather than paying an actual song to do it that's got needs and needs to be paid but i think we're probably far off from that i think yeah i think sync music and library music might be the first one to go because it's quite generic and you can't tell anyway uh i think actual songwriting i think is probably a fantasy at this point i don't think we've got anything to worry about but yeah i mean as you said earlier on the conversation change is the only constant so i suppose uh you know who knows what's right around the corner man but hey as long as we keep doing our thing and it shouldn't matter too much anyway yeah i think like
Speaker 2most people listen to fairly artificial music as it is anyway like it's pop music for a reason um so even if most humans just like most human humans like eat fast food like most people do the thing that everybody does um and so even if ai ends up writing uh top 40 that most of the people do um playlists and just kind of like distractedly um that's okay because there's always going to be a niche of people that love music more deeply than that and they'll want to connect to the human spirit so like maybe that audience and those artists they will be empowered even more so because they're up against this this great widespread opposition like it could make for a really potent but small
Speaker 1experience which could be really cool i think you've tapped on something there i mean i i'm a firm believer that uh the greatest musical movements have always come out of struggle and resistance you know like the blues or hip-hop or punk rock or something you know maybe it might be the uh not the threat that we think it is but it might be the spark that that causes the next new you know beautiful musical movements so maybe maybe that's what will happen well i'm so glad that we've managed to get through all these subjects man whilst i've got you here because i don't just want this to be just like another promo thing for plugging the album because i'm sure you guys have got tons of that and you don't need to do to do that at this point um but i'm aware that i can't keep it for too much longer so we have got to bring it back to what you guys are doing before we wrap up um like i say you're you're sort of just at the start now of this massive leg you're getting everywhere all around europe and then you're doing the us and canada what can people expect from the new life
Speaker 2show what have you guys got up your sleeve um we put a lot of pride into constructing a set list that is pretty epic and weaves together like kind of just one long song um that honors every epoch of the band so we pulled from all the different uh albums and there's i think it's really beautiful like talk moments and connecting to the crowd the light shows is really incredible we tried to level up there um and honestly like for people that come to the show i think one of the things that they'll like the most is the spirit of the audience the spirit of their own community and i think that's really important and i think that's one of the things that i think that's really important and i think that's really important um it feels like uh the the audience steals the show in a way in in the best way in a way that we really uh um are okay with just because it's it's really more about human connection than a positive frequency at a gig um so if someone's coming they should be most excited about that i
Speaker 1think that's beautiful and how has it been your experience as a band and like i said last time you came to paris it was a lot of fun and it was a lot of fun and it was a lot of fun and it was i think it was 150 and now it's like two and a half thousand um i'm guessing it's been like that in the previous few shows and it's probably going to be like that on all of them what's that like for you guys then as an experience of coming over and playing some of the older songs to like this completely new audience of people on that are loving it what does that feel like for you
Speaker 2it's it's a dream come true absolutely and it's a really reasonable jump like it we feel like we feel like we feel like we're playing for that many people i mean we've been kind of like rehearsing for this for the past you know 20 years um in a sense um and back in canada we were playing rooms that big for you know well over a decade so we are we're seasoned we're a seasoned live band and we know what we're doing in rooms this size um but we never thought that we would be in frog or paris or oslo or whatever we were doing in paris or oslo or whatever we were doing in paris or uh on these stages we thought we'd kind of just be a canadian band that that did well um so just to be um you know given the world like that is just such a gift that it's hard to articulate gratitude
Speaker 1in the right way for well i think the gratitude takes the form of the beautiful music that you guys pump into people's hearts night after night from the stage all over the place you know so i think you got that one covered and what is next for mother mother what's happening i know you guys got this massive sprawling tour for the rest of the year but what's happening beyond that are there any plans or are you just right
Speaker 2the wave and seeing what happens definitely a robust touring year and uh more music is coming for sure um yeah there's a lot of new songs on the table right now um so yeah i just feel like we're just not going to slow down um and just in speaking of like what we can do to like give back for this gift i i feel like it's just making more music um and just not taking a break and putting all the love and all the richness of this experience into these new songs these new unborn songs i can't wait to hear them i can't wait to to share them whatever they are because i know they're going to come from a great place and so that that feels like the most potent way to kind of give back just more more music for for the fans you
Speaker 1oh well i'm personally glad to hear and i know that everyone listening to this is going to be super glad to hear that as well man so um grief chapter if you haven't heard it it is out now and it is absolutely exceptional do not doubt even doubt me on it just go out and play it and download it and buy it and whatever you got to do to get it in your ears embrace it in your heart and your dancing feet and you can thank me later it is available in all usual places right now and the band can be found on instagram at mother mother music give them a follow follow them on tiktok get involved buy a ticket they probably come into your town because they're playing absolutely bloody everywhere go along you will not see a better live show this year i promise you um ryan thank you so so much for your time man this has been a fascinating chat it's great to meet you in person and i really appreciate you taking an hour out to speak with me today and just best wishes with everything ahead man you know long may you reign and prosper
Speaker 2thank you so much i totally love this thanks for having me and all the best to you too
Speaker 1thank you right best wishes for the show tonight man it's great to meet you man yeah you too take good care bye and there he goes ryan golden from the incredible mother mother i hope you enjoyed that conversation i did man that isn't that guy on the ball like super articulate made some great points and i just love his general ethos and outlook on art and songwriting and music and what really matters you know clearly doesn't share the same kind of cynical nihilistic outlook that i do about ai in the music industry and i actually had a refreshing perspective on that which i think is probably way closer to the truth than my uh doom and gloom you know yeah i really enjoyed that conversation man and like a great great band if you haven't yet heard mother mother man they've got nine albums go and check them out because they are really really damn good and by the time you listen to this they will still be touring so grab yourself a ticket because they are just as good if not better on stage honestly it's an extravaganza you don't want to miss it's a feast for the ears and the eyes and the soul as i said their new album grief chapter is out now it is available everywhere and it is absolutely amazing go and check it out they are available to be followed on youtube and on facebook and on twitter and on twitter and on their instagram at mother mother music and do go and find them on tiktok as well because they're absolutely smashing it over there and if you're one of the millions of mother mother fans that's come over to this conversation to listen to the podcast for the first time thank you so much for joining us please do hit that subscribe button because we got new conversations with new artists and new game changers and great thinkers and great minds and world changers every single week on this thing so don't miss an episode don't let the algorithms get between you and a good time hit that subscribe button as always if you're listening to it on youtube leave a comment get involved in the conversation there give us a star rating and a review if you're on apple and all that stuff i feel like i hate nagging people for this stuff but it ain't hard is it really i certainly not as hard as making a fucking podcast so you know help me out man and i will see you sexy people next week for another great conversation with another awesome dude have a great week get some mother mother in your ear lobes and i will see you on the flip side love you loads Thank you.
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